Judge A.D. Azios, a World War II Army infantryman who became a prisoner of war and later made history as the first Hispanic criminal district judge elected in Harris County, has died. He was 92.

The senior state district judge, who continued to serve into his 90s, succumbed to kidney failure on Friday.

"He had his family laughing until the very end. He was an amazing guy," said his daughter, Norma Azios Johnson, of Arlington. "He was a great dad - a very balanced man. The traits that were most important to him were integrity, honesty, hard work and a really strong sense of humor."

Arnulfo Daniel Azios was born in Laredo on Feb. 5, 1921 to Jose Maria Azios, a forwarding agent, and Petra Azios, a homemaker. He was the youngest of six sons. Tragedy hit the family when A.D. was 10 and his father died suddenly.

The children got jobs to help make ends meet. A.D. went to work as a paper boy and continued for two years after graduating from high school to save money for college.

Captured by Germans

He hitchhiked to the University of Texas at Austin and studied pre-law while working on campus. When his reserve unit was called up for service in 1943, Azios was sent to a German immersion course, then to war.

The next year, he was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and became a POW in German war camps. His language skills allowed the troops to communicate and negotiate with their captors. His experiences during those months became the basis of stories he told for the rest of his life.

After his liberation in 1945, he returned to the U.S. and began a courtship - mostly through letters - with Lauren Cuellar from Laredo. They married in August 1947 and settled in Houston, where he completed his studies at what became the South Texas College of Law.

First case using DNA

In 1964, Azios was appointed as a Houston municipal court judge. He later became a justice of the peace, a Harris County civil court at law judge and sat on the criminal court at law bench.

He rose to the Harris County district courts, where he presided over several high-profile cases including the murder trial of Cynthia Campbell Ray, who was convicted in 1987 of convincing her boyfriend to kill her wealthy parents.

In 1988, Azios became the first judge to approve the use of DNA in a Harris County proceeding. His life was threatened at least twice. For years, he carried a .38-caliber revolver under his robe.

Azios began his retirement on Jan. 1, 1995, but spent nearly 15 more years presiding over courts in 17 counties as a senior district judge.

He last filled in at age 90 for Randy Roll, a former Harris County criminal district court judge who was sworn in by Azios in 2009.

The two met in 1990, connected over a mutual understanding of German and went to lunch together almost weekly for several years.

'He was a gentleman'

"He was really good for young lawyers. He would take them under his wing, give them work and tell them when they weren't doing it right," Roll added. "If he told you no, he told you oh-so politely. He was a gentleman like they don't make anymore."

Survivors include his wife; daughters Norma Azios Johnson and her husband, Tom, and Diana Atchison, and her husband, Charlie; a son, Arnie Azios, and his wife, Leslie. He was "Papoo" to nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Azios did not want a funeral, Johnson said. His life will be celebrated during a private memorial service.